Who's Kuina?
by elovejapan
Summary: While Sanji is looking after Zoro after the events of Thriller Bark, he hears Zoro mention the name "Kuina." Curious about the identity of this woman, he tries to figure out the story behind her. Rated for swearing. Characters may be a little OOC, and storyline might be a bit AU. No romance, just friendship. ONESHOT. Please R&R!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, Eiichiro Oda does. Warning: The characters might be a little OOC.

Who's Kuina?

Sanji was a ladies' man. This characterization of himself lay not only in his tendency to swoon over women, but it was something that he'd worked on too, having learned proper manners and chivalry towards them. He always made sure to treat every lady properly, courteously, and charmingly, and would beat up any bastard who dared mistreat a lady. He also made sure never to kick a woman- even if that woman was so ugly- er, no, very refined- it was hard to tell whether that person was actually female- no, of course you're a woman! How can there be any doubt?

Back at the Baratie, Sanji had consistently started fights with men that he felt were mistreating their ladies, and usually, once he had kicked their asses, he never saw their sorry faces again.

Until he joined the Straw Hat pirate crew and met Roronoa Zoro.

Sanji was quick to recognize that this man was practically his foil. Zoro never paid any special attention to the women like Sanji did; in fact he never even showed them proper manners. Furthermore, he was not above insulting them or threatening to them, or even fighting them, like that swordswoman back in Loguetown, which Sanji found infuriating. It irked Sanji to no end that no matter how many times he kicked Zoro's ass, or at least try to do so, Zoro would probably not leave, and he never tried to change his ways.

Even more infuriating was the fact that some women actually seemed to find him attractive. Sanji discovered this whenever he went to a town to pick up supplies and happened to be stuck with Zoro. Sometimes he'd hear women whispering (detected promptly by his lady-radar hearing), saying things like, "Did you see that man with the green hair?" "Oh yes, he looks so strong. The size of his biceps!" "He's so _manly_." At times like these, only his manners kept him from marching over there and asking what the _hell_ could be so attractive about that damn marimo bastard.

His only comfort was that Zoro was so focused on his training that he never seemed interested in attracting women or any kind of romantic relationship, therefore, as far as Sanji knew, no woman had yet suffered from being in love with that moss-head. Still, he wasn't sure about Zoro's life before Luffy recruited him. Sanji could easily imagine him abandoning some girlfriend or other and making his way across the East Blue to follow his dream. However, the shitty swordsman had never given even the slightest indication that he had been involved with any women in his past, so Sanji decided to rest in the assurance that for now, as far as he knew, all of the women –excluding Nami-swan and Robin-chwan, unfortunately, but at least Sanji was there to protect them from him- in the world were safe from any relationship with that idiot. Never in Sanji's wildest dreams could he imagine Zoro having an important woman in his life.

Not until Thriller Bark.

After finding that swordsman near death and surrounded by blood, Sanji, together with the rest of the crew, was terrified that the idiot would die. Sure, he drove him crazy, but he was still nakama. He also felt some sort of guilt that he couldn't stop the idiot from sacrificing himself. So, along with the others, while they spent some days recuperating on Thriller Bark, they all took turns watching over Zoro, who was resting in the ship's infirmary for as long as he remained unconscious.

One night it was Sanji's turn to watch him. After thirty minutes of undisturbed silence, the swordsman suddenly furrowed his eyebrows, gritted his teeth, and started to toss and turn in his sleep. He was too injured to risk him moving around, so Sanji stood up and put his hands firmly on his shoulders to steady him. As he did so, Zoro began to mutter in his sleep.

"Kuina…"

Sanji raised his curly eyebrow. Kuina? That had to be a girl's name. Who was she? Sanji frowned. Once Zoro settled down, he sat down himself, and tried to think who that girl could possibly be. His sister? No, Sanji was pretty sure that Zoro once said that he was an only child. Cousin maybe? He tried to think of any other possibility while in the back of his mind he couldn't stop the creeping thoughts of _girlfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend_ from coming up in his mind.

"Oh, come on!" he grumbled out loud, looking up at the ceiling. "There's no way this damn marimo could've had a girlfriend. Right?"

"Kuina…" came Zoro's moan.

Sanji returned his gaze to Zoro. He was gripping the mattress, a look on pain on his face. "Kuina… I'm sorry."

Sanji leaned forward, curious, but was distracted when he saw how flushed Zoro's face was. He laid a hand on his head and realized that he was quite warm. Dammit- he was getting feverish. He took the bowl that Chopper had set aside for a situation like this, filled it up with cold water, wet a cloth, wrung it out, and was about to lay it on the bastard's forehead when Zoro spoke again. "I'm sorry… Kuina. I couldn't keep my promise…to you… I'm sorry…"

"Didn't know you had it in you to apologize, mossball," Sanji muttered as he put the damp cloth on the swordsman's head. True, Zoro had apologized in the past for many things, but they were often over petty matters. This time his voice seemed completely aggrieved for whatever it was he was apologizing for. Sanji listened intently for the next hour, hoping to learn more, but after that, Zoro seemed to calm down with the coolness of the damp cloth, and didn't say anything more after that.

Still, Sanji was curious as to who this mystery woman was, and the enigma needled him, like an itch he couldn't scratch.

He tried to get some answers when he serving Zoro some soup for lunch a few days later. Zoro had finally woken up, to everyone's relief, but he still stayed in bed due to Chopper's firm orders, and everyone took turns staying in the infirmary just to make sure that the shitty marimo didn't try to get out of bed too early. For Sanji, his turns were breakfast, lunch and dinner, quite naturally.

For the first two days after Zoro regained consciousness, he had been too weak to hold the spoon, and Sanji had to spoon-feed him- one of the most embarrassing ordeals either them had ever endured. For Sanji, although he relished embarrassing the hell out of that marimo bastard by treating him like an invalid (although he _was_ one) he still would have liked this more if he was dealing with Robin-chwan or Nami-swan instead.

On the third day, Zoro had recovered enough- he recovered so inhumanly fast!- to be able to hold the spoon himself and eat. Sanji watched his progress for a few minutes before saying, quite casually, "So- who's Kuina?"

He wished he had timed his question better, because when he asked, Zoro spat out his food in surprise. After getting the full brunt of Sanji's _you-are-so-not-going-to-waste-that-food_ look, Zoro grudgingly picked up the food he had spat out- ew- and put it back in his mouth. After chewing and swallowing, he gave a little cough and turned to glare at the cook. "What?"

"I said, who's Kuina?"

"How do you know about Kuina?"

Sanji shrugged. "You were saying her name when you were unconscious. You also were saying you were sorry, and that you couldn't keep a promise…?"

Zoro continued to eat his soup. After swallowing another spoonful, he frowned and said, "It's none of your business."

Sanji groaned inside. Zoro was right- it wasn't his business, and if he was being this cagey about it, then this was probably very personal to him. Maybe he shouldn't pry…

He found the empty soup bowl shoved unceremoniously into his face.

"Here," said Zoro. "Take that and leave. I don't feel like talking about that."

For a moment, Sanji considered telling Zoro that he knew what had happened between him and Kuma on Thriller Bark. But inside, he shook his head- that information would be too much just to blackmail him into spilling his story, which surely wasn't worth something that big. He sighed as he took the bowl from Zoro's waiting hand and headed for the door. "Ok, fine, if you insist." Seeing Zoro's shocked expression, he realized that it was weird for him to be acting so lenient, so he added, "Don't get me wrong, I just thought I shouldn't let the invalid get all worked up and strain himself." He grinned and quickly closed the door. Mere seconds after he did so, there was a soft thud, presumably made from Zoro throwing his pillow at the door.

"I hope he didn't actually strain himself…" he muttered, walking back to the galley.

Still, Sanji was no closer to figuring out who Kuina really was, and he continued ask Zoro about it for the next few days. He continued to refuse, and became so agitated about the matter that Sanji learned later that he had actually asked the captain to send someone other than Sanji with his meals. When he heard that, Sanji decided to give up on asking him and decided to see if the other crewmembers knew anything. He tried the crewmembers who joined before him- Nami-swan, Usopp, and Luffy. However, none of them knew anything, not even Luffy, who had known Zoro the longest. But that didn't stop him from trying to find a clue, any clue, or any way to get to the story behind this girl.

His curiosity was rewarded a week later, around three days after Chopper said Zoro could move around the ship freely again and two days after they left Thriller Bark. Now they were moving onto the next island, sailing under sunny skies and away from that gloomy ship. Currently, the weather was perfect- the sun was shining, the air was warm, the sea was calm and the wind was gentle, so the boat didn't rock too much. Sanji was just delivering some drinks to his wonderful ladies, an hour before dinner, when the infirmary door slammed open. Out rushed Luffy, holding all three of Zoro's swords, and Zoro stormed out after him, with Chopper following closely on his heels. These days, Chopper demanded that Zoro see him the infirmary once a day for the next few weeks so he could check his wounds.

"Dammit, Luffy, give me back my swords!" Zoro roared.

"No! Chopper said you shouldn't train yet, so I'm taking them away until he says you're ready!" Luffy yelled back, holding the swords away from Zoro.

Sanji was surprised. Usually, Luffy never interfered with Zoro's training, regardless of how injured he was. Perhaps Thriller Bark had rattled the captain more than he thought.

"Dammit, give them back!" Zoro yelled, running after Luffy. Luffy ran around the deck, laughing like an idiot, as if they were playing a game of tag. Zoro growled in annoyance, which appeared to increase the longer the chase went on. Finally he cornered him where the railing and the cabins met.

"Give them back!" Zoro demanded angrily.

"No!" Luffy shouted, lifting them above his head and away from Zoro. Sanji noticed that one, the one in the white sheath, looked a little looser and not quite as tightly held as the other ones.

"Luffy," he began to say.

Luffy's hands shifted a little at the moment, but just as they did, the white-sheathed sword fell out of his hands towards the sea.

"Kuina!" Zoro gasped, a slip of the tongue that Sanji didn't fail to hear. Zoro made a grab for it, but missed. "No!" he screamed as the sword fell into the sea. He was about to jump in after it, but Chopper grabbed his leg.

"No, Zoro! You can't swim now- the strain may be too much for you!"

"Shut up! Let go of me, dammit!" Zoro yelled. "Shit! My sword!"

He was absolutely frantic, throwing himself towards the railing like an enraged bull seeing red. Chopper changed to Heavy Point to hold him back. Sanji couldn't help but think that Zoro would get more hurt from being held back rather than actually swimming.

"Calm down, you stupid marimo, I'll go get it!" Sanji said. Already his socks, shoes, and jacket were off, and to everyone's surprise, he jumped into the sea after the sword.

Once underwater, he looked everywhere around him with his one eye. He didn't see it near the ship. Then he looked down. There it was- shit, it was sinking fast!

Kicking as hard as he could with his powerful legs, Sanji shot like a bullet towards the sword, before it sank to a depth where Sanji could no longer hold his breath. He made several swipes for it, but it was always just a few inches beyond his reach. A few more strong kicks were enough to propel him close enough to grab it. Got it! Damn, it was heavy! No wonder it had been sinking so quickly!

Sanji turned around to start heading for the surface. He was surprised to see how far away it seemed. Although he was kicking as hard as he could, the added weight of the sword slowed him down. Gritting his teeth, he kicked harder and harder. His lungs started to burn. Dammit, he needed air! Almost there, almost there, almost-

He broke through the surface, taking a huge breath and swallowing some water in the process, making him cough.

"Did you get it?" He heard a voice say. He wasn't sure whose it was.

He coughed up some more water. "Yeah, it's right here!" he gasped, holding it up so the others could see.

He heard a heavy thud, and he looked up to see that Zoro had fallen on his knees, looking completely and utterly relieved.

Once Sanji returned to the ship, Zoro snatched it out of Sanji's hands (without so much as a _thank you_ , Sanji noted irritably), unsheathed the sword, and emptied the sheath right onto the deck. Ignoring Franky, who didn't want salt water being poured onto the grass, he scrutinized the blade, looking at it so intensely that Sanji wondered whether Zoro would freak out if he found the slightest scratch on it.

"I'm pretty sure it's fine," Sanji told him, wringing out his shirt.

"That remains to be seen," Zoro replied shortly, not looking up once from the blade. "Salt water isn't good for the blade." After looking at it for a few more minutes, he returned it to the sheath and headed for the gym. "I need to perform some maintenance. And Luffy, give me back my swords!"

"Promise me that you won't start training until Chopper says it's ok," Luffy retorted stubbornly.

Zoro sighed. "Ok, fine. I promise, but only if you apologize first." He held out his hand for his swords.

Luffy nodded. "I'm sorry, Zoro. I didn't mean for that to happen."

Zoro grimaced and crossed his arms. In spite of what he said, he still seemed upset. "I know. Now give me back my swords."

Luffy hesitated, appearing sad that Zoro showed no sign of forgiveness. "I really am sorry," he inisisted, giving him the puppy-eye look.

Zoro gave in, his grimace softening. "Baka. I forgive you, ok? Just don't ever, _ever_ do that again."

"Sure." Suddenly looking cheerful, Luffy returned the swords to his first mate and headed for the galley. Sanji, irritated, went after him. "Luffy! Stay out of my kitchen!"

"Hey curlybrow!"

Sanji turned to glare at the swordsman for throwing yet another insult at him. "Eh?"

"Thanks." Zoro smiled at him before heading for the crow's nest.

Sanji was surprised at the rare, if belated, display of manners. "Um… okay. I mean, you're welcome," he muttered.

Then he realized. Zoro would definitely owe him for this. He grinned. Maybe he could finally learn something about this Kuina person.

He frowned. Wait a minute. Zoro had said "Kuina" when he saw the sword go overboard. Was that the sword's name? No, it couldn't be. He was pretty sure that Zoro didn't have a sword called that. Just to make sure (since this was Zoro after all) he turned to Chopper, who had transformed back into brain point. "Hey Chopper, what's the name of that sword?" Since the little reindeer spent a good deal of time with Zoro, he figured that Chopper would know something.

Chopper put a hoof on his chin. "Hmm. I think he said it was called Wado Ichimonji."

"Really?" Sanji frowned. _Then why did he say "Kuina?"_

He heard a loud noise coming from the kitchen, making him curse and run in. "LUFFY!"

* * *

Zoro did not show up for dinner that night. Sanji wondered just how much time that man needed to look over his sword to make sure it was okay. If things were that serious, though, perhaps not to dragging him down to dinner was best. Since Zoro was still healing, he needed all the food he could get, so, while the others were busy scarfing down dinner, Sanji took a plate of food up to the crow's nest.

He found Zoro on the floor, along with his other swords. He appeared to be rubbing a polish his Wado. "Um… how's the sword?" Sanji asked.

"I think it'll be fine," Zoro replied, a bit distracted. Then he took notice of the food Sanji was holding. "What's that?"

"Dinner." Sanji set the plate down nearby.

"Already?"

"Yeah." Sanji took a deep breath. "You know, you owe me."

Zoro stopped his polishing and looked up at him, a slightly puzzled look on his face.

"For rescuing your sword. You owe me," Sanji explained. "So tell me who that Kuina person is."

Zoro scowled. "I may owe you, but I don't want to talk about her," he grumbled.

"So she really is a woman!" Sanji exclaimed triumphantly. Zoro scowled again. "So, what kind of person is she?" Sanji gave him an obnoxious grin. "Maybe your girlfriend?"

Zoro groaned. "Why do people always assume that she's my girlfriend?" he complained. He heaved an exasperated sigh. "Fine, I guess I'll tell you, if only to get you to shut up about it."

Sanji was surprised that Zoro hadn't resisted a little more. Perhaps he was _that_ grateful that Sanji had saved his sword? He sat down, waiting expectantly.

Zoro gave him a look that said _don't get too comfortable, jerkass_ , before continuing, "She's my rival."

"Your rival?"

"Yeah.

"In what?"

"Swordplay, what else?"

"Don't tell me you fought with her!"

"Of course I did. She was my rival after all."

Zoro noted Sanji shaking his head in disbelief at Zoro's lack of chivalry, and grew angry. "Listen, Kuina wasn't some delicate little flower. She was strong! She was the daughter of the instructor of the dojo I trained at, and she was the best student. She could even beat adults!"

"She was a kid?"

"Yeah, this all happened when I was a little kid. Kuina was a few years older than me. One day, I challenged a dojo. The instructor set up a match between his daughter and me. She beat me with one move." He smiled to himself. "Man, that was embarrassing. I couldn't stand the fact that she beat me. I stayed at the dojo and trained as hard as I could to beat her, but I never did. Two thousand and one matches, but I never won a single match."

Sanji was finding it hard to picture Zoro as a child, but he also found picturing him beaten difficult. He snorted. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously." Sanji noticed that Zoro didn't sound sarcastic or anything. He was really telling the truth.

Zoro stared at his Wado, a glazed expression in his eyes, one that people have when they remember things from long ago. "The night she beat me for the 2001st time, she told me that she wanted to be the greatest swordsman in the world, but she couldn't because she's a girl. She told me that as a girl, she'd become weaker when she grows up, and because of that I would probably surpass her soon." His hand tightened on Wado's hilt. "I was so _angry_. I mean, I was training so hard to beat her, and now she tells me that I'll win not through my own effort but because she'll grow weaker? I was so mad, I told her to promise me that one day, one of would become the world's greatest swordsman, and we'd fight each other for the title." He glared at Sanji. "Regardless of what you think, I had tons of respect for her."

"So, you were able to comfort a lady in her time of need," Sanji remarked, lighting a cigarette and trying to hide his interest in the story. "Bravo, marimo, I didn't know you had it in you."

"Shut up!" Zoro snapped, his face a bit pink. "I wasn't just comforting her, you know! I made a promise!"

"Anyway," Sanji continued, ignoring him. He was finding this story more interesting than he ever thought he would. "What happened to her? Do you know what she's doing now? I guess she's still training, like you, huh?"

Zoro's face tensed up. He looked down, staring at his reflection in his Wado, then sheathed the sword. In his hands, the sword began to tremble. "She's dead," he answered solemnly.

Sanji stared. "Oh." He continued staring for a few minutes, a little stunned at the emotional reaction this admission provoked in Zoro, before he noticed that the cigarette in his mouth had burned to nearly two centimeters away from his lips. He yelped in surprise, removed it and crushed it under his heel. Zoro gave him a look that clearly said that Sanji was going to clean that up. Sanji didn't argue for once; he stood up and retrieved a dustpan and a hand broom that was sitting on the bench and swept it up. Afterwards, he lit another cigarette (to Zoro's annoyance) and after taking a drag on it, asked, "How did she die? In a fight?"

"She never even had that dignity," Zoro replied, his voice thick with emotion. He gritted his teeth. "It was pathetic. She died the day right after we made our promise, by falling down the storage room steps and breaking her neck."

Sanji winced in sympathy. "Good God," he said softly. "Well shit, that's awful. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah," Zoro agreed absently. Then he added, rather pensively, "It's like fate was laughing at her, right up to the end. She wanted to become a swordsman, and she had the skills, but she was told that she couldn't, and the moment she decides to try, she dies, without even the swordsman's dignity of dying in battle. I never got the chance to beat her, and in the end _stairs_ defeated her. How could my rival die like that?"

A few moments of silence ensued, before Sanji exhaled smoke and grimly replied, "I don't know."

Zoro scowled at him. "I wasn't asking you, you stupid curlybrow cook!" he snapped.

"Then who were you asking, you stupid marimo? Your swords or something?" Sanji retorted.

They glared at each other for a few seconds, teeth clenched, before, surprisingly, Sanji backed off and took another drag on his cigarette. "Hmph. So, is she connected to that sword somehow?" he asked, pointing at Wado. "When it fell into the sea, I heard you say 'Kuina!'"

Zoro blushed again. "Yeah, well…" he shifted uncomfortably. "This sword used to be hers. After her death, I begged her father to give it to me. I wanted to fulfill that promise for both of us."

"So that's why you train so hard?"

"Yeah."

"That's why you work so hard to become the world's greatest swordsman?"

"Yeah."

"That's why you would even fight women?" Sanji had been bothered by Zoro's lack of hesitation to fight a woman, but in the scheme of things, it at least made sense here. Dammit, why did this uncouth man have to act so noble and yet act so barbaric at the same time?

Zoro hmphed. "Why shouldn't I? After challenging and getting my ass handed to me by a girl two thousand and one times, I can't exactly refuse to fight them by claiming I can't fight girls or that I find them weak, can I?" He shot him a cocky smile that clearly said, _I'm better than you because I can fight girls when I have to and you can't, you spineless wimp._

At that, Sanji jumped up angrily. "Listen, you stupid marimo, I-,"

"SANJI!" Luffy's voice screamed. "WHAT'S TAKING YOU SO LONG? DINNER'S OVER AND I'M STILL HUNGRY! I WANT FOOD! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"

Sanji groaned, rolled his eye and said, "You're lucky, you moss-headed bastard. I better go back. Your food's probably cold by now, but if I see a single crumb on this plate when I get it back, I _will_ kill you." After putting out his cigarette on the dustpan (it was made of metal), he approached the ladder, before turning around to look at Zoro. Zoro had already put down his sword and was now reaching for the plate. "Hey, moss-for-brains," he called.

Zoro snapped his attention on Sanji, glowering at him for the insult. Sanji ignored his reaction and went on, "You'd better become the greatest swordsman in the world, you hear? You'd probably make Kuina cry if you don't, and you know I don't allow bastards who make ladies cry to live."

Zoro snorted. "Yeah, right. Like she'd ever cry over this." Kuina usually never cried. Well, except for that night…

"Well, she'd still be disappointed at the very least, and that's just as bad," Sanji retorted, lowering himself onto the ladder. "So don't do something stupid and get yourself killed, or I'll kill you!" With that parting shot, he disappeared.

Zoro snorted again and shook his head, took a fork and began to eat his meal. "Stupid cook. That doesn't make any sense," he mumbled.

Sanji walked back to the galley, deep in thought. From what he'd gathered from his conversation with the moss-headed bastard, it seemed that he actually did have some sort of respect for women… just, it was completely different from his. He shook his head. That bastard truly was his foil. Perhaps that was why he (Zoro) never hesitated to insult or speak disrespectfully towards Robin-chwan and Nami-swan. His lack of deference to women showed that he treated them as equals, and didn't treat them any differently than he treated men. It was respect, in a way, or perhaps a recognition that you shouldn't take a woman lightly. Sanji sighed and scratched his head. It made sense, dammit, but…like hell he was going to let that marimo bastard insult his Nami~swan and Robin~chwan!

* * *

Author's note: For some reason, writing with Sanji as the main character makes swearing so easy. Zoro's my favorite character, but with Sanji I found it so easy to insult Zoro multiple times. They really are one of my favorite pairs of rivals, I just love their spats.

Yeah, it's another fic concerning Zoro and Kuina. I always wondered what Sanji would think of Zoro's promise to her. Zoro's telling of his past with her may sound a lot like the way he told in another fic I wrote, She's Not Kuina.

I think I did pretty well with the characters in this one, but I think I made Sanji rather lenient here. What do you think?

Please R&R!


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